Player The Layne Staley Depression-Laden Foxhole of De'Aaron Martez Fox

[scott]

sometimes I wonder if you guys really watch basketball. He's taking Camara out of the play which is the reason Castle and Harper can go off. Blazers are clearly focused on stopping Fox' dribble penetration.

Do you want him to shoot a jumper when he's triple teamed?
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Thank you. Pretty clear a bunch of people here don't watch the games with an understanding of what's happening.
Fox had Camara on him most of his possessions, than Jrue for the majority of the rest. That's freaking huge, those guys are two of the top 20 defenders in the league.
Fox has been OK, not bad. He's scored more pts than shots in every game, 18:5 A:TO, and is drawing elite defenders, two of the best free safety guys in the league. Its actually really hard to score on both those guys and getting almost 4:1 A:TO is great. Non of this is happening in a vacuum.

OK + taking a top Defender out of most plays is a positive, not a negative. He just looks a lot worse in comparison to the other two, its coming off as a 2x AS that doesn't step in up while a Rook and Soph steal the show.

It's good that at least there are a few people on this site who can see what is obviously happening. I loved the comments in the first quarter yesterday about "Fox disappearing" while Castle got the ball, never passed it, drove to the paint and shot. I guess they were hoping Swipa would come over and steal the ball away from Castle then shoot a middy?

It's pretty obvious that outside of Wemby, POR is primarily concerned with Fox, which is why they've tried to have Camara and Holiday on him for the entire game.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047891395109658899

This attention on Fox is what opens things up for Castle and Harper... which is why our offense was running a lot better with Fox in the game even when he wasn't scoring. Portland was happy to let the Spurs play a Castle-centric offense, they were +20 through 3 quarters doing that. Meanwhile, through 3 quarters Fox minutes were a +6 for the Spurs.

When Castle returned in the 4th, you could tell he was looking for Harper more and the Spurs were actually playing Spurs basketball: sharp passing, off-the-ball motion, etc. and it started to free up shots for others.

When Mitch went with the Hydra lineup to close the game, the Blazers were forced, for the first time, to pick their poison and they could no longer exclusively focus on shutting down Fox, and that's when he contributed to putting the game away.

It was by no means a great game from Fox (grades coming later), but it was a very useful game from him that helped enable team success. If we want to take the position that because Fox is a max player, we expect him to put up gawdy statlines to lead us to victory... okay, well I guess that's one position to take. But, I'll take this position instead: no matter what any of our guys get paid, if they're part of the puzzle that makes us the best team in the league... then they're doing their job.

lol, I still can't believe I saw an actual suggestion that we trade him for Durant. smh with you people sometimes.

 

[elpimpo4cc]

My bar for Fox is as long as we’re winning, I don’t give a fuck. And if we lose and he’s a big part of why we lose (like game 2), and it repeatedly happens - then I’ll look to him as somebody that needs to go. So far, it’s nowhere near that level.

This is probably the healthiest attitude. Tbh if spurs rang then bring em all back at the max salary we can

 

[scott]

If anything right now, I think there is a Fox-Castle clash that isn't working so far in the playoffs, and Mitch needs to figure it out (and it's not just a matter of not having Wemby... the numbers look pretty similar if you look at it with Wemby in the mix)





The good news is that this is really just a first-3-games-of-the-playoffs phenomenon, because this was not an issue in the regular season. There is just something off to start the playoffs, but it just might be that Portland is a really good defensive team and has devised a strong strategy.

 

[OK Computer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048101428267278637

 

[spursistan]

Like @scott said above. Genuinely can't believe those who are advocating for Fox for KD/Giannis trades in big 2026. One is a certified locker room wrecker and the other is a manipulative narcissistic prick hiding behind a facade of loyalty and sweet talk. I would rather have Fox -- a Spurs material guy through and through -- playing below his contract value than bring those two to rock our smooth sailing boat.

 

[frenchfred]

I mean, we got this guy... who keeps throwing out Fox for Giannis, Fox for Durant trades... trades that immediately make our team worse.

Yes, let me trade away a part of the strongest position on our team so I can get one of those injury-prone, egotistical 1st scoring options to completely fuck up the entire premise that our Top 5 offense is built on. Level 5000 genius stuff here.

Durant doesn't even sit on the bench with his team while he's out injured in the playoffs... I'm sure he'll be a model citizen once he gets here though.

We can agree to disagree without going into your level 5000 genius comment.

My point is that Fox will be overpaid next year for what he brings to the table, I'm expecting way more from a max contract player. It is your right to believe otherwise. We'll see how it goes in the playoffs, so far I would say that he has been underwhelming.

His contract is going to be a problem in two years so I'm looking at options, which ends within these two years, of players who are unhappy and/or teams will try to trade and who can still contribute at positions where we need help (SF/PF). Sure if you can find talent with less risk, go for it but nobody is going to want Fox on a max contract without the Spurs taking some risk in return, Fox is not a max level player. I agree that Durand comes with baggage and Giannis with injury risk, I'm not disputing that.

 

[scott]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2048101428267278637

 

[DTW]

That closing lineup talented their way to victory with unsustainable mostly pull-up shooting, but it seems we're speeding to the point of no return, which is when they can't get away with closing that small and shooting deficient and prioritize winning the day (Harper) over politics (Fox).

In the meantime, Fox should have it much easier in the WCSF, especially if as expected the Nuggets advance.

 

[ambchang]

Durant can’t be given away now and Giannis is no where close to what the bucks are asking for, so the idea of trading away fox for either one of them is puzzling to me.

I have zero doubt fox is more than both in the trad market now.

Specifically to the spurs, fox drew quite a bit of defensive attention and allowed castle and Harper to flourish. Durant would poison the locker room and I doubt he’d sacrifice his shots for the youngins. Giannis was never gonna fit on the spurs, his injuries now make it much worse.

 

[Wemby_Island]

Fox O not a problem at all. He moved the ball very effectively and part of our comeback on offense…

His main problem is on D. It is what it is and I dont think that will be improved.

But we need Fox, if we have to win it all. When things went south, I felt he set up very well for us to come back instead of force feeding into the problem.

As I reiterate from starting of playoffs, we need to pass pass pass for best available shots. That will free up everyone. No one is going to thrive in Castle’s westbrick O including himself.

 

[frenchfred]

Durant can’t be given away now and Giannis is no where close to what the bucks are asking for, so the idea of trading away fox for either one of them is puzzling to me.

I have zero doubt fox is more than both in the trad market now.

Specifically to the spurs, fox drew quite a bit of defensive attention and allowed castle and Harper to flourish. Durant would poison the locker room and I doubt he’d sacrifice his shots for the youngins. Giannis was never gonna fit on the spurs, his injuries now make it much worse.

Durand can't be traded this summer?

You think that a defense would let Fox or Durand open at the 3-point line? You think that Durand would not draw a bit of attention to open Castle and Harper? Again I'm not saying that he doesn't come with problems and maybe this is too much, I'm saying that at 51 millions next year Fox will be overpaid and prevent signing or resigning some role players as we resign Wemby, Castle and Harper that will be make it impossible

 

[RC_Drunkford]

We can agree to disagree without going into your level 5000 genius comment.

My point is that Fox will be overpaid next year for what he brings to the table, I'm expecting way more from a max contract player. It is your right to believe otherwise. We'll see how it goes in the playoffs, so far I would say that he has been underwhelming.

His contract is going to be a problem in two years so I'm looking at options, which ends within these two years, of players who are unhappy and/or teams will try to trade and who can still contribute at positions where we need help (SF/PF). Sure if you can find talent with less risk, go for it but nobody is going to want Fox on a max contract without the Spurs taking some risk in return, Fox is not a max level player. I agree that Durand comes with baggage and Giannis with injury risk, I'm not disputing that.

newsflash: most max players are overpaid. Jamal Murray, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Bradley Beal, Bam Adebayo, KAT, Booker, the list goes on. You want an All-Star, he'll cost you the max.

Durand can't be traded this summer?

You think that a defense would let Fox or Durand open at the 3-point line? You think that Durand would not draw a bit of attention to open Castle and Harper? Again I'm not saying that he doesn't come with problems and maybe this is too much, I'm saying that at 51 millions next year Fox will be overpaid and prevent signing or resigning some role players as we resign Wemby, Castle and Harper that will be make it impossible

Fox won't prevent singing anybody next year. You're talking about 2029 while we are in 2026. Are you going to sell your brand new car in 2026, so you can buy a new one in 2029?

 

[ambchang]

Durand can't be traded this summer?

You think that a defense would let Fox or Durand open at the 3-point line? You think that Durand would not draw a bit of attention to open Castle and Harper? Again I'm not saying that he doesn't come with problems and maybe this is too much, I'm saying that at 51 millions next year Fox will be overpaid and prevent signing or resigning some role players as we resign Wemby, Castle and Harper that will be make it impossible

Durant makes $43 and $46 the next two years. You think Durant can help? Good for you, go ask suns and rockets fans how much he’s helping.

 

[frenchfred]

Durant makes $43 and $46 the next two years. You think Durant can help? Good for you, go ask suns and rockets fans how much he’s helping.

How much did Fox help Sacramento? He never made it out of the first round.

I hope that Fox wakes up and plays up to his contract. We'll see the rest of the playoffs how it goes.

 

[ambchang]

How much did Fox help Sacramento? He never made it out of the first round.

I hope that Fox wakes up and plays up to his contract. We'll see the rest of the playoffs how it goes.

He puts up 27/8/4/2 and pushes the warriors to 7 games. The Kings got worse when he left.

The suns got better without Durant. The rockets got worse with Durant. So I’m not sure what you are trying to get at. Fox didn’t have multiple MVPs as his teammates before?